West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-09-23


scarcely live were wages lower.
Some three years ago, when the b.
d 0. was contending for "a differ
entail rate" its chief argument was
that the coal purchased for the use
Of the company cost only 30 cents
per ton. The coal operators, in part
nersbip with railroad managers, be-
come fabulously rich, and We see
these men combine to curtail pro-
duction and advance the price to
consumers Of this fuel.
The output of bituminous coal
last year exceeded IA million tons.
This coal was protected by a tax of
rs cents on foreign coal. That is to
say, ton of foreign coal could not
come into this country until it had
paid Is cents into U. S. Treasury.
The price of coal at the seacoast
depends on its cost at the mouth of
the pit and on the freight charged
by the railroad. The cost at the pit,
so far as the wages of miners are
concerned. is ut the minimum the
facts published by Henry George
and by then. Y. World are conclus-
i've on this point. Ex-senator Da-
Wis, in his pending suit against the
B. d o., Gan account of which we
recently printed fixed the price at
the pit at 81, and this included the
profit expected by the mine owner,
or operator" Hence when the
price son the cars" in Baltimore is
S., the railroad receives 50 for trans
portation.
Again. The Legislative commit
tee of 81 proved that the G. d O..
fixed the rate so as to leave the OPP
orator the smallest margin of profit
that would retain him in the bust
ness.
If foreign coal could be sold on
the seacoast without paying a tax OF
Is cents the railroads would be
obliged to haul cheaper They can
not reduce the price at the mines
because the miners cannot live ii
wages are lower, and the owner oil
the mine will not continue in bust
ness unless he can make some profit.
Hence, when the subject is analyz-
ed, this tariff tax on coal is simply
q contrivance to enable railroads to
charge higher rates than they could
obtain were the tax reduced; it is
simply contrivance to compel the
consumers Of coal, living at dis
lance from the pit, to pay tribute to
transportation companies when
stripped of confusion the question is
narrowed down to this whether q
tax of rs cents ton on foreign coal
shall be levied for the purpose, and
for the sole purpose, of enabling rail
road companies to exact excessive
rates ? Be it remembered that il
the tax ON foreign coal be abolished
it must be sold rs cents per tor
cheaper. Be it remembered, if the
tax be abolished, we would retain in
our pocket Is cents for every ton we
bought: which rs cents per ton now
goes to the railroad.
(But it is said, to repeal the tax
would cheaper coal at the coast, but
not at points between the mine and
tide water. Wewill expose this fal
lacy presently
Then comes the question, whether
foreign coal is likely to compete sue
cessfully with that mined in w. Va
This involves an inquiry, wheth'
er coal can be mined in foreign coun'
tries and be transported to our At
lantic seacoast cheaper than it is
mined in West Virginia and can be
transported to tidewater We have
not as vet been able to ascertain the
cost of mining coal in the foreign
countries which are supposed to be
able to compete with this State
The circumstance that this informa-
I
ton is not readily accessible Illus
trates that while the millionaire
beneficiaries of tariff-taX for pro
lection eagerly collect and pub
lish whatever will mislead voters,
vet there is no one sufficiently inter
ested to incur the expense and
trouble to ferret out the honest truth
and give it to the people. Be it re-
membered there is an association OF
the enormously rich protected class,
called "The Industrial League" and
they subscribe 100000 a year to